Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
auf Tod und Leben
English translation:
inescapably
Added to glossary by
BrigitteHilgner
Jul 6, 2012 17:10
11 yrs ago
German term
auf Tod und Leben
German to English
Social Sciences
Philosophy
Context is Helmuth Plessner's Die Stufen des Organischen und der Mensch. You don't actually have to understand the sentence in its entirety to help me, I don't think. He's talking about the essential artificiality of the human; the expression I can't find an English equivalent for points to the total integration of the human into her cycle of life, her organic structure of needs and drives. All of life and all of death are in this cycle.
Mit der erzwungenen Unterbrechung durch gemachte Zwischenglieder hebt sich der Lebenskreis des Menschen, dem er als selbständiger Organismus von Bedürfnissen und Trieben *auf
Tod und Leben* eingeschmiedet ist, in eine die Natur überlagernde Sphäre und schließt sich dort in der Freiheit.
Mit der erzwungenen Unterbrechung durch gemachte Zwischenglieder hebt sich der Lebenskreis des Menschen, dem er als selbständiger Organismus von Bedürfnissen und Trieben *auf
Tod und Leben* eingeschmiedet ist, in eine die Natur überlagernde Sphäre und schließt sich dort in der Freiheit.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | inescapably |
BrigitteHilgner
|
| 3 +3 | in life and in death |
Horst Huber (X)
|
| 4 | come hell or high water |
Ramey Rieger (X)
|
| 3 | for eternity |
Michael Martin, MA
|
| 3 | from the cradle to the grave |
Wolf Draeger
|
| 2 | (natural) survival instinct |
Monique Dressel
|
Change log
Jul 11, 2012 08:50: BrigitteHilgner Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
20 mins
BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Austria
Native in German
Austria
b2b/economics/marketing/market research/
Native in: German 
Works in: German to English, French to German, English to German
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
inescapably
irrevocably
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks to everyone who answered. This fits best - Brigitte's right that it's not so much about life and death as it is about irrevocability. Thank you!"
3 mins
come hell or high water
till death do us part
perhaps too idiomatic?
perhaps too idiomatic?
+3
21 mins
in life and in death
I sense the idea is that of a near seamless continuity, where death is a phase of life, a concept also known to the Taoists (Daojia) in China. Otherwise I might expect "Tod oder Leben".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
franglish
: death as a phase of being, I'd say
1 hr
|
|
Thank you!
|
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| neutral |
Bernhard Sulzer
: there's no continuity in Plessner's concept; death and life are two separate anchoring entities of the life cycle
6 hrs
|
|
Thank you! The asker, though, is speaking of a cycle.
|
|
| agree |
Salih YILDIRIM
: Fits better.
1 day 19 hrs
|
|
Thank you!
|
|
| agree |
Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
1 day 19 hrs
|
|
Thank you!
|
32 mins
Michael Martin, MA
United States
United States
Native in German
&
English
Works in field
United States
Creativity wins in the long run
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) 
, English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
28
for eternity
to be shackled for eternity to..
2 hrs
from the cradle to the grave
Meaning humans are bound to their needs and impulses from the moment they enter this world to the moment they leave it.
I find it interesting that the GER reverses the expression; could it be that the writer is emphasising the destructiveness of man's vaunted independence and "free will" by inverting the life cycle (from the grave to the cradle, as it were)? Would this inversion need to be replicated in the translation?
I find it interesting that the GER reverses the expression; could it be that the writer is emphasising the destructiveness of man's vaunted independence and "free will" by inverting the life cycle (from the grave to the cradle, as it were)? Would this inversion need to be replicated in the translation?
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Bernhard Sulzer
: death is, just as life, something Plessner sees everybody connected to, at any time, not necess. as elements in a long "natural" progression from birth to death. That's why death is mentioned first, IMO.
1 day 1 min
|
2 days 21 hrs
Monique Dressel
Native in German
Reliable and professional
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, Dutch to German
(natural) survival instinct
referring to the whole term "von Bedürfnissen und Trieben *auf
Tod und Leben*"
I understand this short excerpt as a statement that culture ("die Natur überlagernde Sphäre") is different from nature in which the actions of humans (as of all other animals) are mainly determined by their survival instinct (including reproduction, hunting for food, ...)
Tod und Leben*"
I understand this short excerpt as a statement that culture ("die Natur überlagernde Sphäre") is different from nature in which the actions of humans (as of all other animals) are mainly determined by their survival instinct (including reproduction, hunting for food, ...)
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